Effectiveness of Group Wheelchair Maintenance Training for People with Spinal Cord Injury: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Lynn A Worobey, Gina McKernan, Maria Toro and 7 others
PMID 34174224WHAT IT FOUND
Group training improved wheelchair users' ability to perform maintenance and their actual maintenance behavior, with gains sustained up to one year.
Knowledge scores did not improve for manual wheelchair users, and improvements for power wheelchair users faded by one year.
Key findings
01Manual wheelchair users' capacity to perform maintenance increased significantly at 1-month, 6-months, and 1-year compared to baseline.
02Power wheelchair users' capacity to perform maintenance increased significantly at 1-month, 6-months, and 1-year compared to baseline.
03Power wheelchair users' knowledge scores increased at 1-month and 6-months but were not retained at 1-year.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study used a convenience sample from four centers, which may not represent the general spinal cord injury population. Participants knew the study focused on wheelchair maintenance, which may have increased their motivation to learn compared to a blinded design. There was significant attrition, with only 51% of participants completing the 6-month follow-up assessment. The study did not measure actual wheelchair breakdowns, repairs, or quality of life outcomes, relying instead on self-reported maintenance capacity and performance.
Declared interests
None declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this training improves long-term knowledge retention for all users. While capacity and performance improved, knowledge scores for manual wheelchair users did not change, and gains for power wheelchair users faded by one year.